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GAIL (India) Ltd. v. Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board

Civil Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Civil Appeal No. 11450 of 2014)Decided 13 Jan 2016
Civil Appeal No. 11450 of 2014
Justice Kurian Joseph · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

This order sends the case back; it does not decide the dispute. The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board found that GAIL's manner of allocating common-carrier pipeline capacity was discriminatory and a restrictive trade practice, and imposed a penalty of Rs. 1 lakh. The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity upheld that finding and GAIL appealed.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final decision on the dispute. The Court found that one issue had not been addressed: whether the Board's 2008 Affiliate Code of Conduct Regulations applied to the complainant. It held that the complaint should not have been disposed of without dealing with that issue. It set aside the orders of both the Tribunal and the Board, allowed both sides to file additional pleadings, and sent the complaint back to the Board for fresh adjudication within six months, without expressing any opinion on the merits.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on whether GAIL's pipeline-capacity practice was discriminatory. The Board will decide the complaint afresh.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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